They have been invited to speak at conferences convened by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and more.

 

They traveled the country in their RV with their 2 cats as a travel nurse from 2017-2023, in order to learn about the experience of families affected by perinatal substance use and pregnancy criminalization in varying geographic areas. They are now settled in Phoenix Arizona, pursuing their Master of Public Health and putting down roots in local harm reduction communities. 

 

Their main interest is the intersections between abolition, drug user rights, and intersectional feminism.

 

Joelle was the lead author on Pregnancy and Substance Use: A Harm Reduction Toolkit, and they wrote a foundational commentary which was published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal:

 

Puccio J. (2023). They Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel: Implementing Harm Reduction in the Perinatal Setting. Maternal and child health journal, 27(Suppl 1), 122–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03795-1

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They became passionate about advocating for people who use drugs after realizing that everything they had been taught about drugs from childhood through nursing school was wrong.

 

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